April 2018

Sabre is killing it this year., and this is wonderfully laid out. Okada isn’t that good on the mat, but that’s fine, because he doesn’t have to be. He gets some holds in, which makes sense with his lucha training, but Sabre mostly dominating him while he screams in pain is what’s supposed to happen, and boy does it. Sabre knows it’s gonna happen, too, escaping anything with arrogant ease. Just like in the Tanahashi/Sabre final, this is built around the fact that Sabre can control the mat and counter most things (that first dropkick counter whooooo), but the size advantage is such that it makes sense that a few big moves can finish him. And Zack is cocky enough to occasion…

Well, I think that match worked as a spectacle but that's pretty much it. The build to the first bat shot was well done. It was shocking when Kagetsu hit Io with the bat because I was expecting Io to avoid it at least one more time before it hit. I'm not death match expert, but I don't understand how the second bat shot didn't directly lead to the finish. Especially after Natsu sold it like she was done only for everyone else to just start working like it was a finish to a regular tag match. I don't know, I guess just find gifs of the bat shots and that's really all that you need to see.

Future of Stardom Championship: Starlight Kid © vs. AZM Another amazing Future of Stardom match. This had intense pacing with some hatred behind the moves, especially those dropkicks. That counter in the finishing sequence was brutal and unexpected. ***3/4

This is a rematch of the World of Stardom title match that ended when Iwatani hurt her arm only a few minutes into the match. They play off of that in the early going as Toni does some nice, Bret Hart style, subtle heel work. First, she tricked Iwatani then ended up going after her arm anyway . The middle part of the match did a nice job of leading up to the finish although I though the finish itself didn't have as nice flow to it. In the end, it is nice that they were able to have a great match after the awkward situation in their first one. ****

This is Viper's first defense of the SWA title that she had just won a couple of shows ago. Not only is Jungle in her hometown but it's also her birthday. So her entrance ends up being a big deal and the match itself has great heat throughout. Jungle's pride gets the better of her at the start as she tries to show off her power by attempting to slam Viper. This backfires, allowing Viper to squish Jungle and for her to start using her size to were Jungle down. Jungle does make a spirited comeback highlighted by her powerbombing Viper out of the corner. The finish has a really nice exchange of near-falls with the crowd getting into each one. A strong title match. ****

So I just noticed that +Lucha put up a complete version of this a few weeks ago, and god damn, it is so good. Marvin decides that he's going to make the caveman work for every little thing in this match, spending a lot of time and effort destroying his arm and cutting him off in ways that seem really legit. For a second it looks like a nasty foot stomp might be enough to stop the match (that one looks even more nasty in the Estrellas del Ring version that went up in April and, it turns out, is only a little bit short), but Cavernario eventually recovers and, to the delight of the fans, finally makes a real comeback. Cavernario is one of my favs, and while I love watc…

Awesome match, which may actually be the best Gannosuke singles I’ve seen, which is crazy to say about a match that happened in 2018. I guess random uploads from Japanese micro indy related YouTube channels are the new gold. I think this was during Gannosukes retirement run so he was bringing the goods. First half of the match is all matwork. Suruga is obviously younger and more athletic and pushing the pace, so Gannosuke breaks out a bunch of awesome Fujiwaraesque counters. Totally didn’t know he had that in him. Second half Suruga continues to dominate by laying into Gannosuke with kicks and palms, I also did not expect a 48 year old has-been-coasting-for-years Gannosuk…

Shit's good. Not only they establish that Murphy is the stronger dude, but he can also go toe to toe with Kalisto in terms of speed. This match features some actual batshit insane spots - that running release apron suplex was ridiculous. From that point on, the match kicks into 3rd gear and the crowd is loving every second of it. As a fast paced affair this kicked ass.

What a fun sprint this was. Riddle playing a bully, but not exactly in an evil way, is some fun stuff. Him resorting to hair pulling in order to get out of a toe hold is some fun stuff. Also them constantly trying to one up each other with the wrist slapping was also fun. Short, sweet, Deonna kicked Riddle's ass until he decided to go for the overkill, and most importantly: it was very fun.

One of the best intergender singles matches I've ever seen, maybe even THE best one, because nothing else comes to my mind that has been on this level. Thatcher was amazing in this; he had wrestled Nick Gage, Daisuke Sekimoto & Munenori Sawa just few hours before, and now here, around 3 AM he still had this one to go vs. Toni Storm. He was grumpy as hell, beating & stretching the shit out of her. The match was 99% dominated by Thatcher, just as it should've been. Toni sold Thatcher's brutal work over her very well & I liked the desperation she showcased through her comeback attempts & great facial expressions. The finish was very well done too, really the …

I thought their February match was OK but it was highly elevated by that Korakuen MAGIC. This one is even better imo, Korakuen is not nuclear like their title match but they are very much into everything they do and they continue to be fully behind Nakanoue. Daichi does a much better job working on top than in their previous encounter and Nakanoue doesn't have to rely on selling his arm like last time so his comeback has less issues. Final couple of minutes are fucking FIRE. I mean, the only thing this match has going against it is that it's clearly edited in two or three sequences, but even though the cuts are very noticeable they don't take away anything from how good t…

Looking at this match on paper, I knew there was way NO WAY this wouldn't bang. And it sure banged HARD. Phenomenal FIP segments w/ Daisuke & Thatcher, the chop exchanges between WALTER & Daisuke were brutal + Sawa hasn't lost a step since the last time I saw, which was his previous EVOLVE appearance vs. Danielson. Excellent match. ****

A very good match. Zack was absolutely fantastic (as always, really) in this one & Riddle was a great FIP; though I did think that some of his comebacks were lacking... something? Can't quite put my finger on what exactly, but something & that is ultimately what keeps this from being a GREAT 4*+ match. ***3/4

A sort of dream match with the most underrated high flyer in the world vs the best high flyer in the world. Fox has been great in EVOLVE, so it’s cool to see him get a big chance to show off his skills against a great talent like Ospreay. Both guys had immediate chemistry with their athletic skills while not going too far with it. Fox’s clique thankfully didn’t prevent the match from a screwy finish with Ospreay getting the win, ****1/4.

This is my first match for both guys, so I am pleased to see the style Garrini works here as a BJJ guy. This is a special show, so I don't actually know if this is Garrini's usual style. I really hope it is though, because that would be right down my alley. This match wasn't long or all that important, but it was fun while it lasted. It was a good way to get the crowd into the action and open things up. One thing I'm noticing though is the commentators keep talking about MMA and Pro Wrestling as if MMA is more dangerous and "real" than pro wrestling, which it is, but I don't want them to keep reminding me that what I am watching isn't the real deal. I already understand t…

I fucking love the premise of Bloodsport. It seems to me like a logical progression of what shoot-style federations like RINGS would look like today. Also, the match was really fun. The sense of struggle to get the better positioning, and no man actually getting a hold locked in properly only adds to the "it can end at any second" drama. Also, gotta love how they work around not having ropes into the game of chess that is the fight for domination. Some really, really fun stuff with a cool setup. Low Ki would be fucked

This was a top-3 most awaited match up of the whole weekend for me & oh boy did it deliver. Thatcher tried to do what Thatcher usually tries to do - ground his opponent, which you'd imagine would work especially well in a match up w/ a stipulation like this, but Gage answered to that with that MDK MOTHERFUCKER STREET FIGHT YEAH style, BITING his way out of Thatcher's submissions & taking things to outside. What a wonderful styles clash. A religious experience, if you will. ****

Well, it didn't take long for the first GREAT match of the weekend to happen. This was absolutely beautiful; as expected, quite shoot stylish w/ some great work on the mat. The best moments of the thing though were WALTER absolutely killing poor Filthy Tom with his vicious chops, disgusting lariats & overall brutal strikes. ****

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For the most part, this felt like a total BJJ exhibition bout. And I loved every second of it. Some very nice storytelling with Garrini completely owning Thatcher on the mat, which lead to him getting too cocky & making fun of Thatcher's Ringkampf pose, which then lead to Thatcher going mental on him w/ those strikes & that beautiful Butterfly Suplex. Wonderful match. ****

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WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST WATCH ? It's 2018 and a 50 years old Quebecer Pierre/jean Pierre Lafitte just had a top 5 match of the week-end. There's too much sheer insanity in this to go into details, but it was not all about that either, as it told a really cool story with WALTER the young monster treating PCO with a patronizing arrogance, only for the old Quebec fuck to make a TerryFunkesque comeback, execute some ridiculous butt-ugly yet super impressive spots, while doing a Kobashi tribute (both in choping WALTER down to size and sporting a... purple/black chest). Where has Pierre Carl Oulette been all these years ? This has to be one of the all-time post-50 years old pe…

This is a match on Mika Iida retirement road. The match itself only goes a little more than six minutes but it sure as hell an awesome six minutes. The whole match is just a constant flow holds being exchanged with a few strikes and suplexes being mixed in. It could have used a couple of more minutes to get them to build to more of a finish, but it's really hard to complain with what they did here. ****